from
Nunlow The company was founded as
Hudswell and Clarke in 1860. In 1870 the name was changed to
Hudswell, Clarke and Rodgers. There was another change in 1881 to
Hudswell, Clarke and Company. The firm became a
limited company in 1899. In 1862, soon after the company had been formed, they were given the initial design work on
William Hamond Bartholomew's compartment boats for the
Aire and Calder Navigation. The choice of the company may have been influenced by the fact that Bartholomew, the chief engineer of the Navigation, and William Clayton, one of the founders of Hudswell and Clarke, both lived on Spencer Place in Leeds. They produced at least one of the prototype
Tom Pudding compartments, but did not get the main contract for their production once the design work had been done. As steam locomotive builders, like many of the smaller builders they specialised in small contractor's and industrial
tank engines, and rarely built anything bigger than an 0-6-0T. They never built any locomotives with
superheaters. The locomotive part of the business is now part of the
Hunslet Engine Company. Locomotive-building was always only one part of a diverse product inventory that included underground diesel-powered mining locomotives, hydraulic pit-props and related mining equipment. In 1911 Hudswell Clarke entered into an agreement with
Robert Hudson for the manufacture of
narrow gauge locomotives. This arrangement produced sixteen standardised designs, designated 'A' to 'Q', which ranged from four-coupled () 5 hp engines to six-coupled () 55 hp models. The designs were sufficiently flexible to allow for the various track gauges in use. Over the years, 188 locomotives were supplied to these designs. In the 1930s the company manufactured narrow gauge steam outline diesel-hydraulic locomotives for use at amusement parks around the country. In 1931
Neptune was delivered to
Scarborough North Bay Railway, followed a year later by
Triton, both being gauge. In the same year they supplied a
Robin Hood to Golden Acre Park in Leeds followed by a
4-6-2 May Thompson in 1933. They also supplied
Mary Louise and
Carol Jean to
Blackpool Pleasure Beach for use on the gauge
Pleasure Beach Express in 1933. A fire in 1934 badly damaged
Carol Jean so
Princess Royal was ordered as a replacement. They went on to build two more class locomotives,
Princess Elizabeth and
Princess Margaret Rose for
Billy Butlin to use at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938 which were then transferred to his holiday camp in
Clacton when the exhibition closed. In later years, Hudswell Clarke designed and built diesel locomotives for both main-line and private company use, mainly for use on shunting operations. ==Surviving locomotives==